Still We Remain
by BeneaththeWords
Summary: Neither of them planned for it to be this way. They weren't prepared to live their lives on this side, running with the most successful criminals Los Santos had ever seen. Yet somehow, Sage Pierce and Aubrey Parker find themselves entrapped within the lives of the Unholy Trinity, learning from them the ins-and-outs of their risky business. If only someone had told them what thin ic


**Prologue: Sage Pierce**

"Jane- Jane is that you?" Linda's question rang through the phone in a breath of hope and relief.

Jane's face broke out into a smile at the sound of her voice, gripping the payphone just a little tighter in her hand. "Yes, Linda, it's me."

A cry rang out on the other line in response to her affirmation and it was a moment before her foster mother could speak again. "I—Where even are you?"

Jane's focus shifted to her feet, kicking at the pebbles that lay there as she contemplated a reply that would satisfy her. "I am somewhere safe." Is what she settled for.

"When are you going to come back?"

Jane had to let out a big breath and her smile had turned watery as she took the phone away from her ear for just a moment. Rubbing the back of her hand over her eyes, she brought it back. "Soon, Linda, real soon, okay?" It pained her to lie, to give false hope where there was none, but Jane couldn't bring herself to tell the harsh truth.

"What even happened with those people that was enough to drive you away? What was so awful that you had to leave so suddenly?" There was such desperation in her voice then.

"Too much. Just too much." And that part was true. Jane had seen too much, had gotten involved with too much.

"Why can't we just work this out, if you're in some sort of trou-"

"No- No!" The urgency in Jane's voice almost scared her, but the prospect of Linda going to those wretched people scared her even more. "You need to stay away from those people, okay? Just like we talked about. You don't understand any of this and I don't want you to."

Jane was met with only silence on the other end and in turn guilt rippled through her stronger than ever.

The tears flowed freely at that point as the reality of her situation was starting to set in. In the weeks that Jane had spent fleeing her home, she had not once given herself enough time with her thoughts to really grasp the weight she was carrying. Hearing Linda's voice for what she anticipated to be the last time is what brought that damned clarity to her.

"Linda, you know that I love you, don't you? You know that I would do anything for you to try and pay back at least a fraction of what you've done for me." Jane didn't have to try hard to sound earnest in those statements, that part came naturally.

"Oh, of course I do. Of course I do." Jane could hear sniffles through the phone. "But you know I never expected anything from you. Everything I did for you was because I love you."

That was it. That was all she needed to hear one last time. "Good, that's good." She had let out a heavy sigh, preparing herself for her final lie. "I have to go now, okay? I'll talk to you again."

She didn't wait to hear a goodbye back before she slowly placed the phone back onto its hook with a shaking hand. A strange numbness had washed over her, her eyeliner dried onto her cheeks and her expression neutral in the wake of her most important realization.

From that moment forward, Jane would be no more. That she was certain.

* * *

**MARCH**

The moment that temporary began to feel more like a constant for Sage Pierce was the moment she knew that she was at a point of no return. Her untimely flee from Seattle so many weeks ago came with its fair share of doubts, present in the bags under her eyes and her torn sense of direction, but they were too weak to shake her initial resolve. She understood the gravity of her decision— Leaving without a word with documents that didn't belong to her— would eventually lead to inevitable consequences, but that wasn't what mattered to Sage in that moment. Putting as much space between her and her resentment was what did.

She drifted down the west coast with her beat-up Mustang and a duffel bag of nothing but the bare necessities. She was in and out of more grimy motels than she could count and had acquired a growing distaste for Burger Shot, or any form of fast food, for that matter. She burned through more gas than she thought possible, listening to alternative stations, true crime podcasts, sometimes even just the whipping of the wind. She wouldn't be the first to admit that road trips aren't as idyllic as the movies make them out to be, but Sage couldn't help but feel blissfully liberated by her newly acquired freedom. She figured if it made her feel even a fraction better about her situation, then she wasn't going to deny herself at least that.

There were rules, of course. She would pay for everything in cash, for one. She would no longer carry a phone on her at all, instead, random payphones in random exits would be used to make whatever calls she still needed to make, and even those were seldom. She would keep her hair cut short and stop dying it that sandy shade of brown, letting jet black grow out in its place. She might even get a few tattoos. Somewhere along the way, she would leave her car to a junkyard only to pay for another one, secondhand and under a different name, like Jenny or Lynn or even Ginger. Her biggest rule, however, was to keep from staying in one place for too long in fear that she would become a sitting duck not far off from its prey.

Paleto Bay was the first to make her break that one.

The speck of a town was just inviting enough to paint over its depressing nature with its charming vintage appeal and oceanic views. Yet its simplicity is what attracted Sage the most because no one seemed to care much in the way of where you came from or where you were going. The thing about Paleto is that it wasn't exactly off the radar; The Great Ocean Highway passed right through it with a constant stream of traffic and tourists, but something about hiding in plain sight didn't seem like such a bad idea.

It became her first safe haven and nights at the Bayview Lodge soon turned into a week, then two, and then three. Before Sage knew it, she had landed herself a job working the graveyard shift at a tiny diner right on the edge of Paleto Forest. It was menial work for what she was used to and the late shifts drew in some of the strangest folks she'd ever encountered, but her co worker, Roxy, made showing up at 11 each night a little less dreadful.

Roxy was a bombshell - All red lipstick and curls, towering on nude heels with a confidence Sage envied. She was crazy witty, with dreams so much bigger than that small town it was a wonder why she was still there. Sage was drawn to her immediately.

They quickly saw each other as friends more than they did co-workers, bringing liveliness to the dull joint in the late hours of the night. Sage was Roxy's polar opposite, she knew that. Where Roxy screamed charisma and electricity, Sage bore an edge of reserve often mistaken for coldness. Roxy had such a loud nature about her, bold from head to toe, but Sage kept everything under the surface in an attempt to stay unnoticed. She knew that's where they contrasted the most- Roxy had an undeniable carefree attitude about everything, but Sage was forced to live with the constant company of her paranoia.

There was no denying to herself that the anxiety would always linger in the back of her mind, settle itself and fester, no matter how many miles she drove. Still, Sage could be wishful and use her new life as a reassurance in the face of so many unknowns and "what ifs" that seemed to cling to her every night. She should've known that the blind eye was just a quick fix, and suppression was just a band-aid that would eventually have to be ripped off.

The ugly truth of the matter was made apparent by the recurring visits of a man who never failed to leave her anything less than unsettled after serving him. She admits it wasn't like that from the start, that there wasn't anything particularly unnerving about him from an outwards glance, but the more frequent his appearances, the more Sage realized how something was distinctly off about this stranger.

He always wore a fitted, black suit and a wide-brimmed hat that covered his eyes every time he looked down at his newspaper and Sage had never seen him sit anywhere besides the booth in the left corner; It was pressed against the large window that wrapped around the diner and it gave anyone sitting there a view of the whole place. He didn't say much at first, only enough to ask for the same order of eggs on toast and coffee, and Sage couldn't really blame anyone for wanting to be left to their breakfast at 4 in the morning. Cliff Burnes was the name printed on the card he used to pay his check with.

She might've assumed he was a salesman away on business by the third time he set foot there, or that he was perhaps looking to buy some of the dilapidated property that Paleto seemed to have an abundance of. Come to his sixth, seventh, even eighth appearance, she just rode him off as another regular from then on and didn't think anything more of it. Well, until something shifted.

It was going on almost two weeks since she'd first seen him, a dark morning where it was just cold enough to see your breath. The place had been more or less emptied aside from a few truckers that clearly needed a break, and Sage wasn't sure if it should be found in copious amounts of coffee, but she digressed. Roxy was her bubbly self, chatting away a few of the cooks in between serving, and Sage was wiping down tables and wrapping silverware.

That's when she felt it, burning a hole on the back of her neck, eyes sat staring and stayed staring even as she turned around to look. He caught her eyes with his, held them there a moment, and then looked down. It was a little odd, she thought, mostly how blatant he was, but she just went back to work. Then she felt them again, but this time she didn't look up, and by the time she'd collected his bill and ended her shift, she'd forgotten about it almost completely. Almost.

Until it happened the following morning, and the one after that, and the one after that, and it continued to until it was starting to drive her mad. The way his eyes drilled into hers anytime she dared look up, almost as if he was trying to convey to her some sort of message only she could understand, plagued her with worry. It only got worse when he started to say more, make little comments that Sage didn't know what to make of.

He would ask her why she chose this place of all things, why she was limiting her potential to waitressing, why she was wasting her time here when there could be much bigger things for her future. She wanted to believe his questions were just the prying interrogative of a man who thought he knew better, but she couldn't convince herself of it in the slightest. It kept her up some nights, her only distraction black and white westerns, her eyes always flickering to her door as if he would storm in at any moment. Even Roxy could tell she was becoming agitated.

"It's a brave thing." He mentioned one day in late April as she poured his coffee.

"What is?" She asked, not sure she wanted to know the answer.

"People like them," He pointed to the cover of a book, entitled the Runaways , "Who skip town, start over, leave everything they've ever known behind. It takes guts." He took a sip of the coffee she poured, his eyes almost crinkling as he looked up at her.

She felt as though her stomach was in her throat and she backed up so suddenly that she bumped into Roxy hard enough to loosen her grip on the coffee pot. It fell to the floor, shattering into tiny, glittering pieces among the brown liquid. Sage only stood at 5'3 on a good day, but right then, she wished she was even smaller. She stared at her stained sneakers for mere seconds before stumbling out of the diner and into the street. She didn't take another look back, but she swore that if she did, she would see a cruel smirk sitting on Cliff's face.

She resigned the next day, not even sticking around long enough to spare Roxy a proper goodbye. She didn't explain her sudden change of heart, just that she'd worn her welcome there. She did exactly what she intended to from the beginning and dumped her mustang in the nearest junkyard. She then came across another small dealer, where she found an affordable Vader motorcycle. The paint was scratched in places and the seat could use releathering, but it drove well and that's all she cared about.

She wasted no time cleaning her room of any trace of her— her fingerprints, her bed sheets, even the food left in her mini-fridge. Anything that could potentially have her DNA she either wiped clean or destroyed. She knew that people would find her too meticulous, even a bit crazy, but Sage knew crazy and she knew it was out there.

She took off from there, back on the highway and back to driving for longer than she was on foot, just with a little more fresh air and adrenaline that time. She was back to french fries and energy drinks, druggies hanging around her motel rooms, and loneliness creeping back in. She would miss Paleto and what brief solace it gave her, but she knew her time there was long overdue. She had rules and she had to stick to them. Too bad those things are much easier said than they are done.

* * *

**MAY**

Exhaustion hung heavy on Sage's eyelids, her kick of adrenaline finally seeping out of her and into her seat on the Los Santos Transit. Her limbs felt as though gravity had a stronger hold on them than usual and she felt her body pliant with each jolt and curve the train took— She was constantly bumping into the shoulder of the man who sat next to her enough times to be considered rude, but she felt no inclination to fight inertia anymore than she had to at that moment.

She was aware her stop would be coming up soon enough, the Little Seoul Station letting out just a few blocks from her shabby apartment building. She could practically hear her bed screaming her name, but it wasn't loud enough to keep her from dozing off just two stops before it. Her chin fell against her chest causing her black bob to fan over the sides of her face while her shoulders slumped further into her cargo jacket. The muffled whispers of those crowded around her and the low hum of metal gliding together felt like a lull in time only to be broken by a sharp turn that sent her body barreling forwards.

She was jolted from her half-asleep state almost immediately but had little time to react. She was ready to accept her fate with the hard floor at her feet when the arm of the man sitting next to her flew out, taking the impact of her body before the legs of the those standing in front of them did. The sudden force of his arm pushed her back into her seat and once she had registered what happened, she looked towards him almost sheepishly.

The first thing she noticed about him was that his gray suit should've blended him with all of the other businessmen shoved into the subway car, but his lack of stoicism and overall polish made him stick out like a sore thumb to Sage. He sat back in his seat just as she did, his legs spread slightly, his shoulders slumped, and his disdain for whatever was running through his mind evident all over his face. If those subtleties weren't enough to separate him, his blatant disregard to the no smoking rule was.

"Thanks." She muttered through a snort, realizing she and he probably held the same "aura". She wanted to roll her eyes at how many times she'd her the locals use that word in the past week she'd been in Los Santos.

"Long day?" He asked, his gaze set forward and the ashes from his cigarette falling onto his knee.

"You could say that." Long life was more like it.

The smell of his cigarette burned her nose slightly, but Sage supposed she didn't mind; She felt all too drained to be invested with the actions of complete strangers right then. She didn't think she'd even be able to blame him. It just didn't occur to her that he'd actually offer her one.

"What?" Was the most intelligent thing Sage was able to come up with once he'd shaken her from her string of thoughts. She stared back at him blankly, not sure if he'd actually said anything else to her at all.

"A cigarette. You need one?" He was holding the pack towards her, his eyes boring into hers with vague curiosity as he waited for her reply.

Sage knew she shouldn't accept it, already having struggled to break the nasty habit in the past, but just like with all of her past corruption, she was so easily swayed.

"I hate these things." She muttered, taking one from him and accepting the lighter he held in his other hand.

He let out a small chuckle. "Yeah, well," He let out another breath of smoke, "don't we all."

Sage gave him a weak smile in return. By now she had turned in her seat slightly, bringing one knee up to rest her arm over. She noticed the thin lines that streaked across his forehead and Sage wanted to know if he always looked so miserable. She brought a hand to her own forehead, wondering if her stress was starting to give her some, too.

"You from around here?" He uttered.

Sage hesitated, before settling on the truth, however partial it was. "No, I've been moving around for a while. I don't think I've even been here two weeks."

"I wouldn't stay much longer if I were you, this place is nothing more than a plastic paradise." Sage could hear the resentment in his words so strongly she thought they could be tangible.

"Then why are you here?"

The man gave out another gruff chuckle. "Because I don't have any other fuckin' place to go."

Sage laughed at that and brought her cigarette to her lips to relish in its poison. By now, the other passengers were giving them dirty looks, and she couldn't tell if it was from the smoking or their language or both. Whatever the reason, she felt slightly empowered by it, letting her bitterness finally start to bubble up. She had let it sit for too long and she was past the point of allowing those around her to dictate how she acted.

"What's your name, anyway?"

"Sage." She answered, not a trace of hesitance.

"It suits you."

She hadn't expected that response from him, but Sage would later like to believe that it had been genuine.

The train came to another screeching halt, the doors promptly opening to let in the cool air of the night and the standing passengers out. Sage's stop was next and she briefly wondered which one was his.

"Why do you move around so much, huh?" She felt a hint of suspicion at his question, the same suspicion she'd felt just weeks prior in Paleto, but she somehow sensed that this man was completely different from that.

"What makes you so interested?" She challenged, her turn to be the nosy one.

He looked at her for a long minute, before saying truthfully, "I don't know."

"I guess there are just some things I couldn't live with back home," She shrugged, "I just want to start over." It was true, in some regards, but the reality of it was so much more complex than she'd dare tell anyone.

They were approaching the next station and Sage sat up towards the edge of her seat. The man seemed to hardly notice this, stuck in thought almost as if he was contemplating her answer. She was going to thank him for the cigarette and move towards the door when he spoke again.

"Maybe you should stick around a while longer."

"What?" Her head whipped back around towards him.

"I'm-" He sighed and ran a hand down his face, "I'm really going out on a limb with this, understand that, but there's something about you. You look like you have potential"

Sage scoffed. "Potential for wha-"

"I think I have an offer you would be interested in," He interrupted, "I just need some time think over it."

He reached into his pants pocket, pulling his lighter and pack of cigarettes back out before fishing out a few business cards. He stood as Sage did, handing one to her. The subway came to a stop, the doors opened, and Sage walked forward to part ways. When she stepped out, he was standing just beyond the doorway as though this was his stop, too, but he never made to leave.

"Call me in a few days if you're interested."

Then the doors closed, separating them. Within seconds the train was off again and Sage watched it until it was just a glow of light down the tunnel. She looked down at the card clutched in her fist and her eyes scanned over the name printed on it.

Michael De Santa.

* * *

**AN: **This story has been a long time coming. It was created among myself and several friends with the intents of building a detailed plot and characters to fit. While these first few chapters will be introductions to some of our original characters to set up the context, the main story chapters will soon follow. This story will take place about one year following the events of gtav and focus on the main three as they undertake some rookies under their wings. I hope you all enjoy reading our characters as much as we have creating them.

I do just want to note that while pieces of this story will be written by different people (mostly chapters focusing on a person's specific character) the main chapters will have a cohesive style.

This chapter was written by myself introducing my oc, Sage Pierce.

(Please let me know what you think of her and your thoughts on the story thus far! Thank you!)

Sage art by oatson on tumblr!


End file.
